Engaging by Design—Pedagogical Interventions That Shape Student Engagement

The purpose of this study is to examine how three pedagogical interventions, collaborative learning, authentic problem-solving, and ongoing formative feedback, are associated with student engagement in a design thinking course. While prior research has examined these interventions in isolation, less is known about their relative contributions when implemented concurrently. This study employs a quantitative survey design, with data collected from 77 undergraduate students working in self-selected teams on industry-sponsored design thinking projects. The course design integrated the three interventions to foster active, reflective learning, and regression analysis was used to examine their relative influence on student engagement. All three interventions positively predicted engagement, with authentic problem-solving and collaborative learning emerging as the strongest contributors. Formative feedback exerted a significant but smaller effect, suggesting its impact depends on how students internalise and apply it within group processes. Findings suggest that engagement in design thinking education can be understood through social, cognitive, and regulatory interventions, although the interaction between these dimensions was not empirically tested in this study. The study contributes a layered conceptual model of engagement and offers practical guidance for designing engaging learning environments. While the results provide useful insights, they are based on a single course context and self-reported data, and should therefore be interpreted with appropriate caution.